The four days of workouts are over, meaning the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine has come to an end. It’s always one of the most exciting times of the offseason, and this year’s event was no exception.
Household names from the collegiate level lived up to the hype in workouts over the course of the week. Some top prospects failed to impress, while other players further down the board made themselves plenty of money.
That’s not to say that the biggest risers will be guaranteed first-round selections, or that the biggest fallers can’t go on to have successful NFL careers. However, in a vacuum, these are the prospects who respectively improved and hurt their stock the most at the 2026 NFL Combine.
2026 NFL Combine Winners
Kenyon Sadiq, TE, Oregon
When you watch Kenyon Sadiq on tape, you can tell that he’s a different athlete at the tight end position. His speed and explosiveness as a route runner give him a unique skill set that few can match. It turns out that the same can be said about his athletic profile after he tore up the Combine.
With an official time of 4.39 seconds in the 40, Sadiq now holds the record for the fastest Combine run by a tight end in NFL history. He also jumped out of the gym with a 43.5-inch vertical and an 11’1″ broad jump at 241 pounds. That should be enough to get him into the top-20 range, if not even higher.
Dillon Thieneman, S, Oregon
Going into Indianapolis, there was a debate on which safety would be the second to come off the board after Ohio State’s Caleb Downs. Though Toledo’s Emmanuel McNeil-Warren had a solid outing at the Combine, one can’t help but feel like Dillon Thieneman currently looks like the favorite to be next off the board after Downs.
Thieneman’s 41-inch vertical jump ranks in the 98th percentile among strong safeties, and his 4.35 40-yard dash ranks in the 99th. That elite testing athleticism, along with his versatility on defense and his effort as a tackler, should have him in high demand in the first round when the 2026 NFL Draft rolls around.
Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State
The Styles brothers stole the show in Indianapolis this year. Lorenzo Styles Jr. also deserves a lot of credit for his strong on-field performance in safety drills and his blazing fast 4.27 40-yard dash, which placed second among all Combine participants. His younger brother, Sonny Styles, will come away solidifying himself as an early selection.
Styles was a top performer across the board this year. He led all linebackers with a 4.46 40-yard dash and tied for the fastest 10-yard split at 1.56 seconds. He also placed first at his position with a 43.5-inch vertical and an 11’2″ broad jump. The 6’5″, 244-pounder has an elite combination of size, speed, strength, and instincts that make him a candidate to be a rare top-five selection in the NFL Draft as an off-ball linebacker.
Jeff Caldwell, WR, Cincinnati
I projected Jeff Caldwell as a top 40-yard dash performer, and he ranked fourth among all wide receivers with a blazing 4.31 time. His 1.48 10-yard split not only led all receivers, but it was actually the fastest get-off speed of any player at this year’s NFL Combine.
On top of that, Caldwell also finished second at his position with both a 42-inch vertical jump and an 11’2″ broad jump. When you combine that freakish athleticism with a 6’5″, 216-pound frame, you have a player with immense physical potential at the NFL level.
Mike Washington Jr., RB, Arkansas
Perhaps overlooked in some of the pre-draft process, Mike Washington Jr. ground his teeth at Buffalo and New Mexico State before transferring to Arkansas for the 2025 season, where the Razorbacks had a record of just 2-10. He more than made up for his lack of national spotlight with a dominant performance in Indianapolis this year.
Washington comes out of the Combine as the only player to finish with a perfect 10.00 Relative Athletic Score. At 6’1″ and 223 pounds, he led all running backs with a 4.33 40-yard dash and a 1.51 10-yard split. He also placed second in his position in both the vertical and broad jumps.
David Bailey, EDGE, Texas Tech
David Bailey projects as a candidate to go as high as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. His impressive tape and production between stints at Stanford and Texas Tech hold him in such high regard, and while his athleticism is apparent when you watch his film, he now has the numbers to match that level of play.
If you count Arvell Reese as an off-ball linebacker, Bailey’s 4.50 40-yard dash at 251 pounds was the fastest of all edge rushers at the Combine this year. He also moved seamlessly in positional drills, showing the agility and bend that he displayed so often in college. His testing earned frequent on-air comparisons to Giants Pro Bowler Brian Burns.
Keylan Rutledge, OG, Georgia Tech
For my money, Keylan Rutledge was the most impressive offensive lineman at the NFL Combine this year. Other linemen like Utah’s Spencer Fano, Penn State’s Olaivavega Ioane, Georgia’s Monroe Freeling, and Texas A&M’s Chase Bisontis also put together strong outings. However, Rutledge is my choice to represent the hog-mollies up front.
Rutledge had a decent 1.81 10-yard split but a great 5.05 40-yard dash, along with elite marks in the three-cone drill and the vertical jump. His footwork and agility looked tremendous in positional drills, too.
A nasty blocker with impressive tape as a mauling guard, he now has elite testing and a strong on-field workout to further boost his stock.
2026 NFL Combine Losers
LT Overton, EDGE, Alabama
In a loaded 2026 NFL Draft class at the edge rusher position, LT Overton has lost a little bit of buzz as the pre-draft process has gone on. The former five-star recruit had the chance to bump his stock with a strong Combine outing, but that wouldn’t end up being the case.
Overton had the third-slowest 40-yard dash among edge rushers at 4.87 and the second-slowest 10-yard split at 1.70. He’s a physical edge-setter whose value comes more against the run, but questions surrounding his burst and athleticism weren’t put to rest with how he ran at the Combine. That could force him into Day 3 territory.
R Mason Thomas, EDGE, Oklahoma
R Mason Thomas was known as a smaller edge rusher going into the combine. He measured in Indianapolis as having 37th-percentile height, 23rd-percentile weight, fifth-percentile hand size, and 13th-percentile wingspan for his position. Those numbers are lackluster, but that was a known element of his draft profile.
That said, his athletic testing was pretty average, all things considered. Of the 20 edge rushers to run the 40-yard dash, his 40 time ranked 10th, and his 10-yard split ranked 11th.
Thomas will have to hope teams focus on the tape with him, because while his film at Oklahoma was very good, his Combine performance was underwhelming.
Lee Hunter, DT, Texas Tech
The Relative Athletic Score metric can admittedly be harsher on traditional nose tackles, who win more on tape with strength and gap-eating abilities than they do with pure athleticism. Though that’s the case with Lee Hunter, there was still a little bit to be worried about from his Combine performance.
Hunter’s 3.72 RAS was the second-lowest among the defensive tackles in Indianapolis this year. He placed last at his position with a 21.5-inch vertical jump, and his 8’4″ broad jump tied for the lowest. His 1.79 10-yard split wasn’t bad for his size, but it wasn’t enough to overcome such poor explosion testing.
Malachi Fields, WR, Notre Dame
A top performer at the Senior Bowl, Malachi Fields is well-regarded for his size, physicality, ball skills, and nuance as a route runner. He’s not known as a speed demon who can separate with pure athleticism vertically, but his 4.61 40-yard dash was the second-slowest of all wide receivers at this year’s Combine.
There have been recent players like Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jauan Jennings, Allen Robinson, Cooper Kupp, and Jakobi Meyers to run a 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds or slower. There’s a path to success for Fields, given the other attributes he has; it just might affect his draft stock a little bit.
Emmett Johnson, RB, Nebraska
On tape, Emmett Johnson is a twitchy, explosive running back who was a big-play machine for Nebraska’s offense over the course of the 2025 season. If you judged his game solely by his performance at this year’s Combine, that sentence might be a bit of a surprise.
Of the ten running backs to run the 40-yard dash this year, Johnson’s 4.56 was the slowest of the bunch. He also had that time at just 202 pounds, which is on the lighter side for his position. That in itself is a reason for concern for a player who came into the Combine as a projected Day 2 selection.
